Capture of Baghdad (1638)

Overview

The siege of Baghdad in the winter of 1638 marked the re-establishment of Ottoman control over Iraq, following a prior period of Safavid rule. It was part of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The siege of Baghdad in November 1638 marked the re-establishment of Ottoman control over Iraq after a period of Safavid rule, making it the decisive engagement of the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639. The Ottoman force, numbering over 108,000 under Sultan Murad IV and his grand viziers, confronted a Safavid garrison of 40,000 under Bektash Khan Gorji; Safavid casualties reached 20,000. The recapture reversed the Safavid seizure of Baghdad that had precipitated the war and settled, at least for this phase of the long Ottoman–Safavid rivalry, the question of which power would hold Iraq. The fall of the city effectively brought the 1623–1639 war to its conclusion, restoring an Ottoman position in Mesopotamia that would be formalized in the subsequent peace settlement.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (5)